Herald-Dispatch -- WHEELERSBURG, Ohio -- From the time John Etterling was a little boy, he wanted to be in the military.

When he was still attending Wheelersburg High School in Scioto County, Etterling enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps with several of his friends. Four of them went to boot camp together in the summer of 2002.

Etterling, 22, was the first of those four to be stationed in Iraq. He also was the first one in that tight-knit group to die. He was among 31 U.S. Marines killed in a helicopter crash near the Jordanian border earlier this week, the bloodiest day yet since the war started for the U.S. military.

As news of Etterling’s death spread around his community Wednesday and Thursday, those who knew him best kept describing him with the same adjective: all-American.

"He was a fine, bright, strong, good Christian young man doing his duty," said his father, William Etterling. "He was fighting terrorism. He believed in what we were doing. He put his life on the line for his beliefs."

William Etterling said his son was stationed in Hawaii and spent three months in Thailand, plus time in Okinawa, Korea and Japan before going to Iraq. Before his death, the young Marine had seen much of the world.

"He was seeing things he wouldn’t ordinarily see," William Etterling said. "He climbed Mount Fuji."

The initial report was that the helicopter went down in a sandstorm, said Etterling, who is waiting to see the official report when the investigation concludes.

The Etterlings were notified of their son’s death Wednesday evening. Earlier, his wife asked him if he had heard anything about a helicopter going down in Iraq. He hadn’t. Not long after that, two U.S. Marines were knocking on their back door, he said.

"My heart dropped," William Etterling said. "Her heart dropped, too. Now we’re just trying to get through this."

The Etterlings were joined in their grief by many whose lives were touched by their son.

"I cried off and on all day," said Cathy Sizemore, John Etterling’s Sunday school teacher at Bloom Freewill Baptist Church. "He was a special young man. Some people have a higher calling. John’s was his country.

"He was a Marine through and through," she said. "When he came home on leave, he came by and talked to the class about what it was like to be a Marine. He knew the dangers. I prayed for him.

"I just sent him some cookies in the mail Sunday," Sizemore said.

In addition to a weekly church bulletin, she would send packages that included baby wipes, deodorant and Chap-stick, she said. Etterling’s favorite was salted sunflower seeds in the shell, she said.

"We talked about a month ago," she said. "He was up-beat. He was stationed in Fallujah. The fighting had pretty much subsided."

Alex Watts, 21, was among the four 2002 Wheelersburg High School graduates who went to Marine boot camp together at Paris Island. He, Etterling, Josh Huddleston and James Howard went through basic training together.

"I’ve known him since he was in the first grade," said Watts, who is in the Marine Reserves. "He wanted to be in the military since he was little."

Watts said when he last spoke to his friend about a month ago, Etterling expressed optimism about the fighting in Iraq. "He told me to be prepared. He said, ‘We’re winning. We’re the tip of the spear.’

"I’ve gone through 1,000 different emotional states since I heard about (Etterling’s death)," Watts said. "I don’t want to see our folks get killed. I want to see some type of effort to resolve this. I want to make sure what he did counts for something."

U.S. Rep Ted Strickland, D-Ohio, said Cpl. Etterling’s sacrifice will not be forgotten.

"I am in awe of young men like Cpl. Jonathan Etterling who answer the call to military service and willingly put their lives on the line," said Strickland, also a Scioto County native.

"Lance Corporal Etterling’s bravery and sense of duty serve as an example to us all," Strickland said in a prepared release. "It is tragic to lose someone so young and so filled with promise. My heart goes out to his family and to his friends. I know that he will be missed and that this community is proud he was one of us. We will always honor his memory."

Mark Knapp, Etterling’s high school principal, said Etterling was a good student who took a challenging course load and proved he was a hard worker.

"He was very well liked. He played high school football and track and participated in the junior and senior class plays. His dream was to be in the Marines."

Gary Johnson, Etterling’s high school track coach, said Etterling was basically "an all-American boy. After 9/11, he couldn’t wait to join up. He was a great kid, a real patriot. He wanted to serve his country. He was the hardest working kid on the team. He never slacked off.

"I had them run 10, 200-yard sprints and he ran the 10th one as hard as the first one," Johnson said.

Cheryl Weisenberger, a Wheelersburg High School English teacher, said Etterling was loud and clear with his desire to be in the service, and she remembers the day he came back to the school to visit, a full-fledged Marine.

"I always tell the students to come back and visit," Weisenberger said. "He did. He was dressed in his Marine camouflage.

"I didn’t know he was in Iraq," she said.

Knowing it now brings the war closer to home, she said. "John was gung-ho. Being a Marine was all he talked about. That was his goal. He was doing what he wanted to do."

"He was very mature," said Carol Bialkowski, another high school track coach. "He always knew what he wanted to do. One of the reasons he ran track was to get in shape. He was a good, all-around kid. He was an all-American boy."